The present invention relates to a video cassette and, particularly, to a mechanism for locking the hubs of the cassette when the cassette is not in use.
Video cassettes are well known for providing video tape in a package usable by a video cassette recorder. The tape included in a video cassette recorder is typically very lightweight and easily damaged or deformed. For this reason, video cassettes commonly include a mechanism for locking the hubs on which the tape is wound. The mechanism is intended to prevent rotation of the hubs and possible movement of the tape, while the cassette is not in use. Previously used hub lock mechanisms include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,534, incorporated herein by reference. Typical hub locks include movable tooth mechanisms which engage corresponding teeth arrayed along the perimeter of flanges connected to the hubs. When the cassette is inserted into a video recorder, a probe enters the cassette through a hole and engages the hub lock mechanism. The probe causes the hub lock mechanism to move in such a manner as to retract the teeth which engage the perimeter of the flanges, thus permitting rotation of the hubs.